Question Mark Folder Fix in Detail - Why? And How to fix on any Apple Mac!
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Ultimate Apple Repair Toolkit on Amazon Prime: amzn.to/3sBgVjk
This video guide explains in rich detail how to fix the question mark folder on any Mac. This fix will work on any Macbook, iMac, Mac Mini or Mac Pro.
Transcript:
Hi guys, if you are facing a question mark folder like this on your Mac, then you came to the right place:
So just a little background on this… apple uses UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) to connect the internal parts of the Mac with the Operating System. The very beginning of this process is stored inside of what Apple calls NVRAM non volatile random access memory.
So what does that mean?
In short, the question mark folder is a default animation for a Missing Operating System. The mac has looked at the last used boot up record and can’t find it. The mac then has looked in all places and has found nothing that is bootable by the UEFI.
Why does this happen? For three main reasons.
· A failed update or corrupt NVRAM settings file that points to the drive
· Hard Drive Cable is loose or is bad (Very common in Older Macbook Pros)
· The hard Drive is bad or is on it’s way out (common with mechanical drives)
Now how do we fix it?
The first thing you can do to determine if this can be a quick fix is to shut down the Mac, and as soon as you press the power button, press and hold the Option key. Keep holding it until you see the mouse and some drives. If you don’t see any drives but you see the mouse that means the drive cable or the drive it self is bad and needs replacement.
If you see two drives click the drive that is labeled Macintosh HD/SSD or Untitiled, not the drive labeled Recovery.
If the unit boots up, great! You can now restart the unit and perform a NVRAM reset, and everything should be back to normal.
If the unit is stuck on the loading screen for longer then 5 minutes and will not boot, restart the Mac and select the recovery partition and boot into that.
On newer Macs 2013 to current, press and hold down Option + Command + R keys after pressing the power button to launch the hidden APFS recovery partition. Once in the recovery gui, open disk utility, select your main drive and perform Permission Repair, and Disk repair, one after the other.
Restart the unit and try to boot into your main drive again.
If this doesn’t work and you can’t get any drive to boot, it’s time to replace the drive.
If it’s an older macbook then replace the hard drive cable at the same time.
When replacing the drive completely you will need to watch a video on how to restore your mac to an empty drive.
Replacing a failed drive should be the choice to make when fixing the question mark issue. Reformatting the failed drive will cause the same issue to happen over time.
Reinstall a new Operating System onto a New Hard Drive without using the recovery partition from the failed drive.
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OMG! You’re awesome!! I just had this problem and my first instinct was to go on google and follow steps from one of the websites but it was very difficult to understand and I put my MacBook into recovery mode until I came across this video, I ended up pressing the power button again and followed your steps and I got my MacBook working within a minute, thank you so much!
You're welcome!
Would this work for a 2010 iMac?
This happened to me because I erased the MacBook device from my find my iPhone
@@GRIBSOFT my ios hes dead
were you able to recover your files?
This issue occurred a few minutes before my exam. The solution worked like a charm. Thanks a lot.
Holy cow! Before an an exam??? I'd be sweating buckets😭😭
You are a LIFE SAVER!! I rebooted and followed your instructions, and I fixed my potentially $1000+ burden!
This guy is excellent - simple, concise, knowledgeable!
If you have a problem as described WATCH THIS VIDEO it is a life saver with newer and older software. This man knows his stuff!
nigel callender after I unplugged behind the computer it wont turn on there is electricity on the switch button
Contact *fobhack* on !nstagram he's gonna be of great help to you he fixed mine few minutes ago. He's legit.
*Tested and trusted linux0s at ¡nsta fix my device*
nigel callender my problem with our mac computer it doesnt open anymore upon switching it on. I have tried unplugging the plug behind the computer
jamille Dabon *talk to this guy he do fix that kinda problems linux0s thru IG*
I feel like you actually just saved my life!!! I felt myself slipping into a full panic attack just before I found this video! Couldn’t find this information ANYWHERE but here!
Thank you! This was very helpful and allowed me to save my book manuscript (5 days away from publishing!)
Hello from Azerbaijan 🇦🇿.Sir you are a real wizard.I can’t believe that I have fixed my Macbook 💻 blinking question(in folder) mark
You are awesome! Very easy explanation, now my MacBook is working again after weeks of searching for a solution, thanks a lot⭐️
Thank you so much!! Also, when I got to the GUI part, my interface was a little different(I am running macOS Catalina but I'm not sure if that made the difference because there was no OS according to the signal and the default GUI for stuff like this should be same for all OS X in my opinion). I got 4 options which included Disk Utility, but I couldn't restore my data through that. I did 'Reinstall macOS' because I had a backup of all data(read till the end) so I could just transfer it into the new macOS to use it like it was before, and it worked. It took about 30mins, but in the end, I had to do no file transferring because my profile was already in it.
In short: I reinstalled macOS and entered my password at several stages and the device was back to normal. This might help someone who is having the same problem.
I just had this problem, thanks to the vid my mac is saved :D TYSM
Now I understand. Not every video deserves a like. But this video, deserves a like. Thank you
This helpful, I just have one quick question: prior to this my internal WiFi (says no hardware installed) so I can’t use WiFi as shown and I use personal hotspot from my phone through USB so any help regarding that.
part time Did you find a solution? I’m having the same problem
Same I'm having that problem
Not yet, m trying to fix it through direct internet cable connection but still in process...
Hey, so i tried to erase my macintosh hd, but only found apfs, so i deleted the apfs. After that, I restarted the mac and there was the blinking question mark. Since my parents had restrictions on my settings, my macintosh hd is encrypted and can't choose it as a start up disk. there is only one startup disk and this is encrypted. I followed the reset and command R thing, and tried to choose this startup disk. Im kinda freaking out right now since I need this computer for school and I think it may be beyond repair. I try to unlock the Macintosh hd and it says that a problem was detected with the disk that prevents it from being unlocked. Please help
This video was very helpful for me I panicked when I saw the folder flashing and I immediately searched and your video was the first thing that popped up so thank you very much❤️❤️
did the apple logo take a long time to load after the world symbol?
Thanks guys i followed your instructions and the unit powered up and i was able to get the machine working again, can't thank you enough saved me buying another one
Mine shows "starting internet recovery" :-( what to do next?? Or do i have to restart again?
Did you fix this?
Ummmmmmmm, try giving it a while. If that fails try a reboot and do it all over again. If that fails try to boot from a bootable CD or USB (with macos of course)
Next time get an HP. You'll almost never get this issue
Or just throw away your computer
@@IZMONOMI all fun and games til it say “a required download is missing” 🤦♂️
This is such a relief.. thank you so much. I panicked the moment i saw my screen slump as the flashing question mark folder is something I’d never seen before even though I’ve encountered other crashes before on my MacBook. Followed your steps and it was up and running again in minutes.
I do have a question though, do I have to do anything else after the system has rebooted? I ask because it’s only been about a week or two since I first experienced the crash and today again the flashing folder came up. Though the reboot was successful again today, I’m worried that the issue repeated itself so soon and wondering if there’s a further step I should have taken the first time after the system has rebooted from the crash ? :(
You faced it again?
And if yes how you fixed it?
Nvram, SMC reseted.
New OS installed after erasing disk.
Still question mark on folder appears while booting device.
Thanks so much! Brilliant and easy to understand solutions 😁🤙
You’re very welcome!
in my case, i have a macbook pro 2017 touchbar and the ssd is attached to the board. After getting to the utulity disk, i cant find my ssd? what can i do to restore my ssd? is flashing the bios a good idea or changing the whole board?
Saved me time googling thank you very much! Just got my first macbook boight it from someone so I was very confused and nervous but this video helped me A LOT!
You Da Man!!! I've watched so many videos regarding this issue and none compares to yours. You provide insight and easy-to- follow TECHNICAL explanations that demonstrate your knowledge in this subject. I'm subscribing to your channel as I write this. Thanks for sharing!!!
Wow! Almost two years later. This video was the most helpful on UA-cam to solve our issue with the Mac that we decided to reinstall the MacOS. You sir are a wizard!! Thanks for saving us a headache.
Mine was permanently fixed by *Guurusfix on lG*
The trick saved me the dollars and the data. You rock man!
'press and hold alt option' on startup was what I was looking for... thanks...
You got it!
What MacBook is it considered older to replace the hard drive cable?
It still says the first thing you said where it doesn’t show anything beside the option to put WiFi
I’m stuck there also
Same here
Same!
Same
I just upgraded my 2009 MacBook pro and got the screen above. I shut it down and turned it back on while holding the option key. I only got the arrow but nothing else most of the time. I just want to make sure that I need to replace the hardware cable, as you mentioned in the video?. I did inspect the cable, and it did look loose and worn out.
How do I get a new Cable, cause mine just shows the wifi part, no drives
David Uzonna same you find any solution yet
In the same boat 🤨
@@abdikadirm5504 hey, sorry for the late response, I kind of reinstalled from the menu, and it pulled through
I've lost my SSD data after updating Big sur before couple of days. During the update Mac a1502 turned off immediately, then turned on with question mark folder. I've tried to use disk utility but unfortunately no disk appears.
Someone told me that to use external enclosure it might works, but it's unreadable through my Mac, so how it could work externally!
I will be so thankful for any suggestions you will provide in order to sort this issue out.
Omg! I just opened my mac and replugged my hdd connector. It was very easy and solved all my question mark problems. The hdd also didn't even show up in the disk utility. I would recommend everyone to try this if you have guestion mark folder and the disk doesn't show in disk utility.
Otto Moilanen which mac do you have?
@@philipbowles7677 mac book pro 2012 mid, but my hdd broke about a hour after that comment
What a great video, thanks so much I have my MacBook back!
When I click the drive that pops up the folder pops up
what if you have no disk utility
Andrea Serrano your on your own
Andrea Serrano same i don't have one
I have this problem too
Looks like it’s a hardware issue with the actual hard drive
Liam Smith what happened to me was a day later my computer did not turn on at all bc i realized it was bc of water damage
amanda bacallao I don’t think mine is water damaged, there hasn’t been any liquid near it all. Guessing it’s just given up!
Thank you so much for the vid. I was able to figure out that I have a bad cable or hard drive in my older model MacBook Pro. Any suggestions for reputable 3rd parties that can help me?
This worked amazingly well! I was so worried at first. Thank you very much!!!
I gave up couple months back on this,other combinations that i found didn’t worked,now first video i find about this topic and it went trough… now just need to mount ssd as mane drive
Currently having this problem 😭
Love this video and was really hopeful the alt option would work and it would show my drive but it didn’t. I’ve been doing Internet Recovery with no luck because it’s can’t mount, can’t delete the volume/disk and when I go straight to reinstall the OS X, I couldn’t continue because there’s no disk that I can install it to. Does this mean it’s time to go to the Apple doctor? 😢 How expensive is it to replace the hard drive?
Whatsapp +18136166974
*Spyroberto1 at IG is able to fix any lock MacBook*
Did you find a solution?
My Mac said start up disk is full and froze and is now doing this, I tried the steps and on the screen at 3:01 I click verify disk and it says everything is working fine, no repair needed. But I still can’t get in??
Thank you sir, u saved a mere student having exam in 3 days 😭
zzzz0088 That’s his name , Mr Sir
This video got me closer. Hopefully it's the full fix. I had a power surge from a busted transformer in front of my house that knocked out part of my house's power, with one room being my computer room. That's when the question mark appeared and wouldn't stop no matter how long I let it shut down (it happened before from the same thing but I shut it down for a few days and after I started it up it took me right to my login screen and performed like nothing ever happened to it). So now it's currently loading and we'll see if it's fixed or if it goes back to the flashing question mark....
My MacBook Pro 2019 was Fixed with the help of *Guurusfix on lG*
Thanks! I was able to do a quick fix, but now I’m scared I’m having a problem with my hard drive. Time to backup all my files!
Oh yes always do! Good luck
How do i back up my file?
I Have never heard a human sounding robot as good as this one where can I get one
Sorry friend that was the first thing I wanted to write but your video helped us a lot thanks 😘
Your video was the most accurate one. Thank you brother, you were the best info on UA-cam!!!!
I'm sorry i know this is stupid question but i really need you to help me.how do i boot into the main drive after restart the unit ? Restart the units means that I should restart the mac right ?
I was given my aunts Mac laptop. She had dementia and had to go in a long term care home. She couldn’t remember anything much less any password and has since passed away. She never did any updating and we are trying to get a clean install on it but the Mac says it’s unavailable. I try hitting the control and R but it still gives me that same result. Can you help me by giving me some direction how to resolve by getting a new clean iOS on this laptop
You have saved my life!! Thank you for your wonderful and extremely helpful explanation!!!! Happy new year!!!!
I just put in a replacement logic board and that folder came up. I know the SSD works. How do I make the new logic board recognize it?
I have a flashing question mark issue on my MacBook Pro screen.
Obviously with the option keyboard button, I tried to turn on my MacBook Pro and then after a successful ignition, I only see the mouse on my screen and then I don’t see any more symbols to continue the installation program.
I mean it’s just the mouse on my screen.
Please help me out!
Hi,
Please mine only trips into 'choose network' then ends up with an exclamation mark in a triangle.
Please help.
Thanks.
Nothing happens when I press the alt option key?
My Internet recovery keeps failing
Try creating a use drive.
Every time I go into the the internet recovery it’ll stop and give me the apple support url with a number on the bottom like -2005 and it’ll change every time I don’t know what to do
Dude same
Dallan Russell please if you somehow fix it let me know I’ve been trying to fix it for days now and I feel like taking it to a shop might not worth because it’s old
mmr18mr I think I figured it out, but it comes down to two options. Replace the hard drive cable ourselves or pay someone to do it. There’s pros and cons to each. Good luck on your MacBook
I don’t see Macintosh HD, SSD, or untitled, can someone help me?
Me too
Thank you bro I was trying to fix my mac
Dark same
Glad I could help
If faced with this issue does this mean all my files are lost ?
What if it doesn’t show any of those but if I plug an external HD it loads up just fine. On my iMac it shows on a Macintosh HD symbol that is called 4.14 GB ST1000DM
Disk 1
OS X Base system
Sounds like the internal drive died or it’s on it’s way out. Just replace it. What year and size is your iMac, I can link the drive replacement video for your model. Once you are done with that, watch this on how to install macOS on an empty drive ua-cam.com/video/8jmm4Op7wjk/v-deo.html
Hi Sir, I tried those method but it's not even going forward but rather asking me for internet connection.
I connected it to the internet but is telling me that it will be done in 5hrs 30mins
Can I just stick in an install disk and it will go away?
Sure, that will happen but you should watch the video so that you fully understand what’s going on and why.
Okay, thank you. This literally saved me like $29.99!
I got it fixed to normal but it freezes when I’m just doing something random so I shut it down then it come back to the folder with the ? In it can I have some help?
Thanks, I had no idea what was going on. Luckily it restarted with no problems.
*This doesn’t take much time to fix MacBook SHEVYHACK at IG get m¡ne done*
Following those steps only gives me an ‘internet recovery’ option, should I go ahead with that?
Same here!
I pressed the option key but what came up on the screen was choose network and I select my network n my password yet nothing happens..
I didn't get those other options you had 😭😭 what do I do help please !!
I have this problem now. , but it doesn't work for me as I can see.. I accidentally deleted the whole hard drive out of my laptop and now it doesn't work.. I can't download Disk Utility and I don't know how it's done on my white Macbook
Thank you. Very informative and concise.
Hey sir in my macbook condition command+R is not working and when i press option key and start macbook there is no hard showing up only a aero i also change hard drive to ssd and changing hard drive cable but noo hard drive showing up when pressing option key only a aero show..... Help me sir please
Can you help me im stuck on factory reset screen
For some reason I always try to update to high siara and it never works 😞 but this video helped me keep trying
Hi there I need your help, My hard disk died and I needed to change a new SSD.
But my current OS is using SIERRA, most of the SSD sold needs HIGH SIERRA and above , is there a way that I could by pass the internal died SSD to an external SSD and update my MacBook pro os to a higher OS(from HIGH SIERRA)
I need some help, i spent 2 days with Apple support no luck, my Mac Pro 2011 has question mark issue- new hard drive was added-old one had issues, tried to boot MacOS by USB Sierra and even tried El Capitan and it doesn't boot nor it goes to recovery mode-gets stuck to white screen. My friend was able to boot the Mac in Windows 10 version, apart from that no luck at all. Please could anyone recommend me steps i missed, or any way for me to over come this?
My recovery thing finishes and it counts down for 12 minutes or so - but then it just comes up with a white Apple logo on a blank screen and stays there - what should I do?
It randomly changed my password and it’s showing a flashing file and I don’t know how to change it??
I think I broke the hard drive connection inside. Is is it fixable
The best video,u saved my life and lot of money here brother thanks
Just opened up the loft and pulled out my 2012 MacBook decided to fire her up and was faced with the flashing folder. I’ve followed the instructions but, I don’t get anything just the cursor. 25 quid u can have it.
does this reset the macbook ? will i get my previous data after doing this ?? plzzz helppppp
Crying because this didn't help me although I was confident it would :(. I guess it was time
Any idea after reformat in the app store all the icon become question mark.
Mine won’t let me download Mac of Sierra it keeps giving me a error saying failed ?!! Whattt can i do ??
ua-cam.com/video/8jmm4Op7wjk/v-deo.html
Watch that video.
What do you do if you can't get the keyboard to work
Thanks a lot Sir... Video was helpful ❣❣❣
When i do that i see a lock 🔒 and it ask for a password.. i type everything i could think of and dont work
This video saved me! Thanks for making it
bossman! you just saved me quite some time and a lot of money!
OMG, This video alone forced me to subscribe, I hardly do🥺😥🙏🏼
Will this delete my current files?
1:46 - if I don’t yet have a USB flash drive to boot from, and I see the gray screen with mouse but no drives listed… Is that because that drive has really failed or because it’s blank and there are no other bootable drives?
I have an imac from mid 2007 i was on my imac and it froze for 3 minutes then it restarted, showing the flashing folder with the question mark. I restarted it and it is stuck with the apple logo and the loading bar was 3/4. What do i do now?
Hi i see the machintosh HD but after I entered my password it won’t load but reload again and ask for my password again please help asap!
Thank you for your honest answer
Hi. I'm new to Macs. I received from somebody an iMac in order to learn more about Macintosh. Although the SO was working fine, I managed to wreck the data on it by formatting it the wrong way. So I decided to install a SSD to make it run faster. Now I'm facing the same question mark folder flashing. Obviously for me the problem comes from not having an installed SO. Is there a way to make a bootable USB from my windows device since mac that i have is the non-working one?
Please help me :)
Thank you for the video, it was very helpful and informational 🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾
I replaced the cable for the drive and placed new ssd but i dont see any drives
I have an internet recovery error “-3100f” what does that mean?
I THINK YOU SAVED MY LIFE
I click option and got a arrow pointing right and a arrow going in circle
Hey I erased the disk data because Mojave was giving me problem now I don’t know how to install back a new os
You saved my Mac!!
OMG THANK U I THOUGHT I WAS GUNNA GET INTROUBLE 😅
Please can you help me on my imac macOs high sierra lcannot be installed on this computer???